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NEW LEFT NOTES - MAY 8, 1967 m «If ■ •
spri rig mobilization
A VERY VERY SUBJECTIVE REPORT
ON THE 1967 SPRING MOBILIZATION
AS VIEWED FROM THE CROWD SIDE
Itzhak Epstein
I happened to have been in New York this weekend.
T decided to participate in an anti-War demonstration
which had been organized by a pop front of liberals and
pacifists on one hand and Old Left sects on the other.
For all practical purposes, it seemed as if the march
was planned and menaged by the New York Police
Department, while the official sponsors seemed to have
no visible control over its conduct.
Sheep Meadow in New York's Central Park seemed
much the same as it did on Easter Sunday's be-in. There
were, however, fewer painted faces and more anti-War
placards. The holy banana was replaced by a tower
displaying VC flags. Alan Ginsberg's circle of Hari
Krishna singers was replaced by a sorry-looking self-
styled "commend post" consisting of a feeble-voiced
sound truck'proclaiming unheard and unheeded instructions to the growing multitude. On the slopes of a slight
mound, where two weeks earlier a young man had stripped
naked, a draft-card-burning party was taking place.
Nearby a giant weather balloon proclaimed: "BURN
YOUR LOCAL DRAFT BOARD." I came upon the incineration ritual by chance. The burning took place in a
very small circle surrounded by the press and pushing,
shoving spectators. Hardly any of the observers had a
chance to fully observe this historical happening, while
the vast majority on the Meadow was completely unaware
of it.
I wouldn't trust the peoplewhomismenaged themobel-
ization with a simple errand, much less the ménagement
of a nation's affairs. It was obvious that the Police Department was in superb control of the situation, and was
thus justly praised by the press. Unfortunately, the mo-
belization should have been designed to demonstrate
strength and unity in opposition to the regime's foreign
(Continued on page 4)
amendments
John Veneziale
Jane Adams
(1) ARTICLE VI, Section 2: Change "appointment of the
National Secretary" to read: "appointment of Assistants
to the Secretaries".
(2) ARTICLE VII: Eliminate "The president shall have
the power to call a meeting of a temporary national
interim committee, to be composed of the seventeen
national officers, for emergencies only. Decisions of
this body shall be subject to national council approval.
(3) ARTICLE Villi Becomes ARTICLE VII: National Officers and Staff.
Section 1. The National Officers shall be: National
Secretary, Education Secretary, Inter-Organizational
Secretary, and eight at-large officers elected one each
from the following regions: New England, New York,
Mid-Atlantic/South, Southern Great Lakes, Midwest,
Great Plains, South-West/Southern California, and
North-West/Northern California. They shall be elected
by the Convention and serve as members of the National
Council. The Convention may on a year-to-year basis
create such other officers as seem necessary, and shall
designate their voting rights in the various bodies of
S.D.S.
Section 2. (Leaveas is.) The national officers must have
been members of S.D.S. at least two months prior to
election.
Section 3. The national officers are the spokesmen of
S.D.S. They shall be responsible for seeing that organizational policies are carried out and shall convene the
National Council. Primary political responsibility lies
with the three Secretaries in consultction with the other
officers. The three Secretaries shall work out of the
National Office(s). The officers shall be responsible to
the Convention and the National Council.
Section 4. The National Secretary shall have primary
responsibility for the functioning of the National Office.
Section 5. The Inter-Organizational Secretary shall
have primary responsibility for liaison with other organizations, both national and international, and for informing the membership about these groups. He/she shall
share administrative work with the National Secretary.
Section,6. The Education Secretary shall have primary
responsibility for the functioning of the internal education program.
Section 7. The Secretaries shall appoint assistants as
necessary, subject to approval of the National Council.
Section 8. The National Council shall elect administrative bodies to review administrative decisions of the
Secretaries.
two
reports
THOUGHTS ON THE SPRING MOBILIZATION
AND ANTI-WAR PROTESTS IN GENERAL
Tom Cleaver (CSC SDS)
The action taken by the Berkeley NC was, as it
turned out, not entirely representative of SDS thinking
on the Spring Mobilization, and was an example of the
need for an overhaul of the administration of the national
and the decision-making process in general. As it turned
out, the Boston NC reversed the earlier decision, but not
until three months had elapsed in which SDS could have
been mustering needed support for the Mobilization.
As it turned out, however, this support was given—on an
entirely local and uncoordinated basis—by a large number of the local chapters.
The argument was put forward that working for and
going to the Mobilization would divert needed people
and finances from local projects; but as experience has
shown, this was not necessarily so. Most chapters which
did support the Mobilizationwerequite able to delegate
certain people to work for it, without seriously jeopardizing their local work.
The people who made the decision not to support the
Mobilization were, in general, people who have been
in both SDS and the Movement for awhile. However,
the vast majority of SDS members and those who consider
themselves part of SDS have only come into the movement within the last 12-18 months. To them, stories of
how it was on the Washington March two years ago, the
International Days of Protest in October, or the November March are just that...talk; and it is talk about actions that they wish they could have been a part of, in
the time when the movement was far more visible, vibrant, and alive than many consider it today.
Most of these people also come from areas that have
only recently become open to radical organizing, primarily in the Midwest-Rocky Mountain region (where,
for example, six chapters have sprung up in Colorado
in three months where only one had existed for the two
years prior), and in the South (as in Florida). These
areas are still the ones where there are no even-seemingly-large numbers of SDSers or any other radicals in
any one place, and it is entirely too easy to acquire a
feeling of isolation, and from this to develop a policy
of no -action-for -fear -of -retribution, ..a policy that
stems from the feeling of a lack of support that the idea
of isolation brings on.
dig that
Dear SDS,
Reed Buckingham (see the blatant masthead on check)
is an unctuous, dimply, near-diabetic man who flounced
into our suburban home one night with black enticements
and presumptuous assurances that our future finances
would be glutted by thatwondrously altruistic progenitor
of our marvelous modern world, Standard Oil. All that
was needed was our acquiescence to exploration for oil
under our little cottage.
As any upstanding member of the Wilderness Society
would, we decried the despoliation of our natural resources, chanted our favorite shibboleths, "Ecology,
Rape, and Big Trees Everywhere", and immediately consulted an attorney on legal alternatives to exploitation.
Shades of The Octopusl And visions of sugar plums
danced in their heads.
Seemingly, our great republic designs to give us the
choice of being exploited impuissantly or being exploited with a small remuneration. A true conservationist
can only sigh resignedly "against the use of nature"
(Macbeth) as foul slime is dredged and wrenched from
the black pits of earth to titillate the black appetites of
the corporate hierophants.
We decided that we could contribute just a little to
the decline and fall of the Gothic hagiology that permits such abuse by endorsing to our favorite anarchist
charity all remuneration thatwe receive from Standard
Oil. The Wobblies were under serious consideration,
as they were most likely to use the money to blow up a
I would like to turn my attention to the kinds of anti-
War protests we are engaged in, and offer some criticism and some ideas I have gotten from the experience
of the past few weeks. I didn't go to San Francisco,
primarily due to a lack of finances; but I did help
organize and take part in local solidarity demonstrations on April 15. The demonstration at Colorado University in Boulder was an excellent example of protest
to criticize and draw new conclusions from.
The leadership at CU is basically Left-lib, Social
Democrat-SPU variety, of the kind that existed and
controlled the Peace Movement about three years ago.
They had hang-ups about slogans on placards, worrying
about the image they would project and trying to keep
out "undesirable" elements (the new militant people).
Their signs were such as "Peace in Vietnam", "Stop
the Bombing", and "Negotiate" (who with and what
for?). To preserve their image, they carried an American flag at the head of the march. When we arrived
with signs such as "Stop Johnson's Aggression in Vietnam
NOW!", "Stop American Imperialism", "Napalm Is a
War Crime", etc., they were frankly upset about the
deleterious effects on their "image". This is something
militants have had to put up with for a long time, and
was nothing new; but we should realize that now the
liberals are coming into the anti-War movement, we
will have to continue to fight this moderation tendency
that those of us who have been in for a little longer
have seen to be ineffective. What we must do is talk
with these people and show them how this sort of stuff
just doesn't make it anymore.. .and the best demonstration is a demonstration-in-action, as we were able to
use.
At this demonstration were a number of new people,
from campuses in this state that are just getting organized, or just beginning to break out of their formative
shells. At CU, there are a number of militants in the
rank-and-file who want to put forth more radical programs, but who have been stopped by the arguments over
ultimate effectiveness put forth by the Left-liberals.
These people are militants with no base, and they are
the ones we must reach out to...as we did. At this
demonstration, we walked downtown to the courthouse,
where a 45-minute silent vigil was held...with no
identifying signs allowed, and only that flag flying.
This was done to make the little old ladies of WILPF
and the old-time pacifists happy. This was a wasted
action, and many of the militant people left the line
and tried to do something to confront passers-by and
create dialogues.
After the vigil, a rally was held, wi th some CU profs
and a couple of out-of-town student radicals (including
this writer) speaking. The first two professors spoke
about how this demonstration was good because it showed
the viability of dissent in a free society (?), and how
we must continue to do this because it showed LBJ & CO.
and the rest of the world that not all Americans approved
(Continued on page 4)
derrick or two. However delightful this ironic act might
be, it would not rectify the inequities of government-
approved rape. (After all, there were trees on those
copper-mine hills that Joe Hill btew-up.)
SDS has been called to our attention by the good folks
who are inordinately concerned with the preservation of
our "system", but who are singularly unsympathetic to
the plight of a lonely Torrey Pine. They denounce your
group as a threat to the security of our country. Hopefully, you are. Inasmuch as you have merited this reputation, we have duly decided you also merit some rewards for your efforts. If Standard Oil finds black lucre
under us, you will receive about 16% of the alleged
sales price derived by S. O. from the pools under our
house.
We are also alerting S. O. to our intentions so that
they may rejoice in the knowledge that they are helping
to build a brighter America.
Yours for more trees,
Ben and Franci Winter
384 Del Mar Avenue
Costa Mesa, California ^^|
NEW LEFT NOTES
Published weekly by Students for a Democratic Society, 1608 W. Madison,Chicago
III., 60612. except July and August when publication is bi-weekly. Phone (312)666-
3874. Second-class postage paid at Chicago, Illinois. Subscriptions:$l a year for
members, $10 a year for non-members. Signed articles are the responsibility of the
writer. Unsigned articles are the responsibility of the editor, Cathy Wilkerson.
STUDENTS FOR A DEMOCRATIC SOCIETY
Nick Egleson,president;Carl Davidson,vice-president;and Greg Calvert,nat'l sec'y
National Office;!608 W. Madison, Rm.206,Chicago,lll. 60612/(312)666-3874
New York City:49 W.27th St., NYC,NY 10001 (212) 889-5793
Niagra Regional Coordinating Committee: PO Box57-31,River CampusSta.,Roch.,N
Niagra Regional Coordinating Comm.: POBox 57-31,RiverCampus Sta.,Rochester, NY
Northern California:924 Howard St., San Francisco, California-(4l5)362-7922
Southern California: PO Box 85396, Los Angeles, California
New England: 39 Lee St., Apt. 3A, Cambridge, Mass.
VOL. 2, NO. 48
let the people decide
MAY I, 1967

Copyright belongs to the individuals who created them or the organizations for which they worked. We share them here strictly for non-profit educational purposes. If you believe that you possess copyright to material included here, please contact us at asklibrary@wisconsinhistory.org. Under the fair use provisions of the U.S. copyright law, teachers and students are free to reproduce any document for nonprofit classroom use. Commercial use of copyright-protected material is generally prohibited.

Owner

The International Institute of Social History Library Collections; Brünn, Harris Watts Collection - Serials and Press Release Soldiers Movements, International Institute of Social History, Amsterdam

Copyright belongs to the individuals who created them or the organizations for which they worked. We share them here strictly for non-profit educational purposes. If you believe that you possess copyright to material included here, please contact us at asklibrary@wisconsinhistory.org. Under the fair use provisions of the U.S. copyright law, teachers and students are free to reproduce any document for nonprofit classroom use. Commercial use of copyright-protected material is generally prohibited.

Owner

The International Institute of Social History Library Collections; Brünn, Harris Watts Collection - Serials and Press Release Soldiers Movements, International Institute of Social History, Amsterdam

Full text

NEW LEFT NOTES - MAY 8, 1967 m «If ■ •
spri rig mobilization
A VERY VERY SUBJECTIVE REPORT
ON THE 1967 SPRING MOBILIZATION
AS VIEWED FROM THE CROWD SIDE
Itzhak Epstein
I happened to have been in New York this weekend.
T decided to participate in an anti-War demonstration
which had been organized by a pop front of liberals and
pacifists on one hand and Old Left sects on the other.
For all practical purposes, it seemed as if the march
was planned and menaged by the New York Police
Department, while the official sponsors seemed to have
no visible control over its conduct.
Sheep Meadow in New York's Central Park seemed
much the same as it did on Easter Sunday's be-in. There
were, however, fewer painted faces and more anti-War
placards. The holy banana was replaced by a tower
displaying VC flags. Alan Ginsberg's circle of Hari
Krishna singers was replaced by a sorry-looking self-
styled "commend post" consisting of a feeble-voiced
sound truck'proclaiming unheard and unheeded instructions to the growing multitude. On the slopes of a slight
mound, where two weeks earlier a young man had stripped
naked, a draft-card-burning party was taking place.
Nearby a giant weather balloon proclaimed: "BURN
YOUR LOCAL DRAFT BOARD." I came upon the incineration ritual by chance. The burning took place in a
very small circle surrounded by the press and pushing,
shoving spectators. Hardly any of the observers had a
chance to fully observe this historical happening, while
the vast majority on the Meadow was completely unaware
of it.
I wouldn't trust the peoplewhomismenaged themobel-
ization with a simple errand, much less the ménagement
of a nation's affairs. It was obvious that the Police Department was in superb control of the situation, and was
thus justly praised by the press. Unfortunately, the mo-
belization should have been designed to demonstrate
strength and unity in opposition to the regime's foreign
(Continued on page 4)
amendments
John Veneziale
Jane Adams
(1) ARTICLE VI, Section 2: Change "appointment of the
National Secretary" to read: "appointment of Assistants
to the Secretaries".
(2) ARTICLE VII: Eliminate "The president shall have
the power to call a meeting of a temporary national
interim committee, to be composed of the seventeen
national officers, for emergencies only. Decisions of
this body shall be subject to national council approval.
(3) ARTICLE Villi Becomes ARTICLE VII: National Officers and Staff.
Section 1. The National Officers shall be: National
Secretary, Education Secretary, Inter-Organizational
Secretary, and eight at-large officers elected one each
from the following regions: New England, New York,
Mid-Atlantic/South, Southern Great Lakes, Midwest,
Great Plains, South-West/Southern California, and
North-West/Northern California. They shall be elected
by the Convention and serve as members of the National
Council. The Convention may on a year-to-year basis
create such other officers as seem necessary, and shall
designate their voting rights in the various bodies of
S.D.S.
Section 2. (Leaveas is.) The national officers must have
been members of S.D.S. at least two months prior to
election.
Section 3. The national officers are the spokesmen of
S.D.S. They shall be responsible for seeing that organizational policies are carried out and shall convene the
National Council. Primary political responsibility lies
with the three Secretaries in consultction with the other
officers. The three Secretaries shall work out of the
National Office(s). The officers shall be responsible to
the Convention and the National Council.
Section 4. The National Secretary shall have primary
responsibility for the functioning of the National Office.
Section 5. The Inter-Organizational Secretary shall
have primary responsibility for liaison with other organizations, both national and international, and for informing the membership about these groups. He/she shall
share administrative work with the National Secretary.
Section,6. The Education Secretary shall have primary
responsibility for the functioning of the internal education program.
Section 7. The Secretaries shall appoint assistants as
necessary, subject to approval of the National Council.
Section 8. The National Council shall elect administrative bodies to review administrative decisions of the
Secretaries.
two
reports
THOUGHTS ON THE SPRING MOBILIZATION
AND ANTI-WAR PROTESTS IN GENERAL
Tom Cleaver (CSC SDS)
The action taken by the Berkeley NC was, as it
turned out, not entirely representative of SDS thinking
on the Spring Mobilization, and was an example of the
need for an overhaul of the administration of the national
and the decision-making process in general. As it turned
out, the Boston NC reversed the earlier decision, but not
until three months had elapsed in which SDS could have
been mustering needed support for the Mobilization.
As it turned out, however, this support was given—on an
entirely local and uncoordinated basis—by a large number of the local chapters.
The argument was put forward that working for and
going to the Mobilization would divert needed people
and finances from local projects; but as experience has
shown, this was not necessarily so. Most chapters which
did support the Mobilizationwerequite able to delegate
certain people to work for it, without seriously jeopardizing their local work.
The people who made the decision not to support the
Mobilization were, in general, people who have been
in both SDS and the Movement for awhile. However,
the vast majority of SDS members and those who consider
themselves part of SDS have only come into the movement within the last 12-18 months. To them, stories of
how it was on the Washington March two years ago, the
International Days of Protest in October, or the November March are just that...talk; and it is talk about actions that they wish they could have been a part of, in
the time when the movement was far more visible, vibrant, and alive than many consider it today.
Most of these people also come from areas that have
only recently become open to radical organizing, primarily in the Midwest-Rocky Mountain region (where,
for example, six chapters have sprung up in Colorado
in three months where only one had existed for the two
years prior), and in the South (as in Florida). These
areas are still the ones where there are no even-seemingly-large numbers of SDSers or any other radicals in
any one place, and it is entirely too easy to acquire a
feeling of isolation, and from this to develop a policy
of no -action-for -fear -of -retribution, ..a policy that
stems from the feeling of a lack of support that the idea
of isolation brings on.
dig that
Dear SDS,
Reed Buckingham (see the blatant masthead on check)
is an unctuous, dimply, near-diabetic man who flounced
into our suburban home one night with black enticements
and presumptuous assurances that our future finances
would be glutted by thatwondrously altruistic progenitor
of our marvelous modern world, Standard Oil. All that
was needed was our acquiescence to exploration for oil
under our little cottage.
As any upstanding member of the Wilderness Society
would, we decried the despoliation of our natural resources, chanted our favorite shibboleths, "Ecology,
Rape, and Big Trees Everywhere", and immediately consulted an attorney on legal alternatives to exploitation.
Shades of The Octopusl And visions of sugar plums
danced in their heads.
Seemingly, our great republic designs to give us the
choice of being exploited impuissantly or being exploited with a small remuneration. A true conservationist
can only sigh resignedly "against the use of nature"
(Macbeth) as foul slime is dredged and wrenched from
the black pits of earth to titillate the black appetites of
the corporate hierophants.
We decided that we could contribute just a little to
the decline and fall of the Gothic hagiology that permits such abuse by endorsing to our favorite anarchist
charity all remuneration thatwe receive from Standard
Oil. The Wobblies were under serious consideration,
as they were most likely to use the money to blow up a
I would like to turn my attention to the kinds of anti-
War protests we are engaged in, and offer some criticism and some ideas I have gotten from the experience
of the past few weeks. I didn't go to San Francisco,
primarily due to a lack of finances; but I did help
organize and take part in local solidarity demonstrations on April 15. The demonstration at Colorado University in Boulder was an excellent example of protest
to criticize and draw new conclusions from.
The leadership at CU is basically Left-lib, Social
Democrat-SPU variety, of the kind that existed and
controlled the Peace Movement about three years ago.
They had hang-ups about slogans on placards, worrying
about the image they would project and trying to keep
out "undesirable" elements (the new militant people).
Their signs were such as "Peace in Vietnam", "Stop
the Bombing", and "Negotiate" (who with and what
for?). To preserve their image, they carried an American flag at the head of the march. When we arrived
with signs such as "Stop Johnson's Aggression in Vietnam
NOW!", "Stop American Imperialism", "Napalm Is a
War Crime", etc., they were frankly upset about the
deleterious effects on their "image". This is something
militants have had to put up with for a long time, and
was nothing new; but we should realize that now the
liberals are coming into the anti-War movement, we
will have to continue to fight this moderation tendency
that those of us who have been in for a little longer
have seen to be ineffective. What we must do is talk
with these people and show them how this sort of stuff
just doesn't make it anymore.. .and the best demonstration is a demonstration-in-action, as we were able to
use.
At this demonstration were a number of new people,
from campuses in this state that are just getting organized, or just beginning to break out of their formative
shells. At CU, there are a number of militants in the
rank-and-file who want to put forth more radical programs, but who have been stopped by the arguments over
ultimate effectiveness put forth by the Left-liberals.
These people are militants with no base, and they are
the ones we must reach out to...as we did. At this
demonstration, we walked downtown to the courthouse,
where a 45-minute silent vigil was held...with no
identifying signs allowed, and only that flag flying.
This was done to make the little old ladies of WILPF
and the old-time pacifists happy. This was a wasted
action, and many of the militant people left the line
and tried to do something to confront passers-by and
create dialogues.
After the vigil, a rally was held, wi th some CU profs
and a couple of out-of-town student radicals (including
this writer) speaking. The first two professors spoke
about how this demonstration was good because it showed
the viability of dissent in a free society (?), and how
we must continue to do this because it showed LBJ & CO.
and the rest of the world that not all Americans approved
(Continued on page 4)
derrick or two. However delightful this ironic act might
be, it would not rectify the inequities of government-
approved rape. (After all, there were trees on those
copper-mine hills that Joe Hill btew-up.)
SDS has been called to our attention by the good folks
who are inordinately concerned with the preservation of
our "system", but who are singularly unsympathetic to
the plight of a lonely Torrey Pine. They denounce your
group as a threat to the security of our country. Hopefully, you are. Inasmuch as you have merited this reputation, we have duly decided you also merit some rewards for your efforts. If Standard Oil finds black lucre
under us, you will receive about 16% of the alleged
sales price derived by S. O. from the pools under our
house.
We are also alerting S. O. to our intentions so that
they may rejoice in the knowledge that they are helping
to build a brighter America.
Yours for more trees,
Ben and Franci Winter
384 Del Mar Avenue
Costa Mesa, California ^^|
NEW LEFT NOTES
Published weekly by Students for a Democratic Society, 1608 W. Madison,Chicago
III., 60612. except July and August when publication is bi-weekly. Phone (312)666-
3874. Second-class postage paid at Chicago, Illinois. Subscriptions:$l a year for
members, $10 a year for non-members. Signed articles are the responsibility of the
writer. Unsigned articles are the responsibility of the editor, Cathy Wilkerson.
STUDENTS FOR A DEMOCRATIC SOCIETY
Nick Egleson,president;Carl Davidson,vice-president;and Greg Calvert,nat'l sec'y
National Office;!608 W. Madison, Rm.206,Chicago,lll. 60612/(312)666-3874
New York City:49 W.27th St., NYC,NY 10001 (212) 889-5793
Niagra Regional Coordinating Committee: PO Box57-31,River CampusSta.,Roch.,N
Niagra Regional Coordinating Comm.: POBox 57-31,RiverCampus Sta.,Rochester, NY
Northern California:924 Howard St., San Francisco, California-(4l5)362-7922
Southern California: PO Box 85396, Los Angeles, California
New England: 39 Lee St., Apt. 3A, Cambridge, Mass.
VOL. 2, NO. 48
let the people decide
MAY I, 1967